Metro Atlanta students learning how to play the ‘Sport of Kings’

ATLANTA — 13-year-old Jayden Johnson may only be 4 feet 9 inches, but he’s tall in the saddle.

“My first time on a horse, I was nervous. But it was fun,” Johnson said.

Jayden is among 15 students from The B.E.S.T. Academy boys school in Northwest Atlanta who are learning how to play the favorite sport of the future King of England.

Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen was in Cobb County on Thursday where these boys learned the sport.

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“A lot of these kids grew up in environments where polo players don’t go. So the best thing for me to do it bring them ‘to’ the polo players,” Miguel Wilson said.

Wilson is the founder of the Ride to the Olympics Foundation. His foundation and the nonprofit 100 Black Men of Atlanta are sponsoring classes at the Atlanta Polo Club.

Their parents say most of the kids had never ridden a horse before, and certainly not a polo pony. Most had never even seen one with their own eyes.

“Most of us have never played polo and barely watched it. So it’s an awesome opportunity for our boys,” The B.E.S.T. Academy’s LaNett Stanley-Turner said.

Johnson is already hooked. He loves the sport.

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“It’s fun. It’s a fun experience. Everyone should try it at least once,” Johnson said.

The team is in training for a tournament. The Junior Polo Classic is set for October 12th at the Atlanta Polo Club.

To learn more about Ride to the Olympics, look here:

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